Well... I installed Vicious V2 of the Jellybean ROM (toro), and things were running OK. I used titanium backup to try to restore my SMS data, and found that I could not boot back up. It just bootloops. Since then, I have tried mutliple things, but nothing ends it...
I've tried:
*Restoring a NANDroid, but /data will NOT restore, and phone will bootloop.
* factory Reset/reinstall old AOKP ROM. It will not boot.
*Reinstall Jellybean ROM. Still bootloops
*I'm working on trying to get ODIN to detect my phone, but my computer won't stop detecting it as "Samsung ADB Interface". I've verified there is no response from ADB while in ODIN mode on the phone.
I just... can't stop the bootloops. There is another thread of the same issue, but his resolved over time. Mine doens't seem to be... I really want my phone to boot. The interesting thing is that none of my Nandroids will restore "Data". It just says "Completed in 0 seconds"
Are you able to use fastboot?
Sent from my Captivate
Yes.
Speaking of fastboot, I can re-flash my recovery just fine. I've tried everything on both Clockwork, and TWRP. Results are the exact same.
Same thing
Mine did the exact same after installing the same ROM after a TiBu restore (no system apps, no sms just regular apps with data). I tried wiping/reflashing several ROMs I had on the SD to no avail, all my nandroids would fail to restore data. I finally ended up using the Odin method I found to flash it back to stock 4.0.2 unrooted, unlocked. I lost all of my data on the SD card in the process.
I loved JB and would like to install again if I could find out what I did wrong to avoid this mess, any input guys?
Just a note: In recovery you have access to ADB. You can backup your SDcard with the command "adb pull /data/media C:\SD_backup"
It will save to... C:\SD_backup
If you get a file not found then, "adb shell", then "mount data", then "Exit", then try the adb pull again.
I'll keep messing with drivers then to see if I can get ODIN to detect me.
I'm an idiot. ODIN was seeing my phone the whole time. I just forgot where it shows that the phone is connected. I'll try an ODIN in the morning. I'm backing up my SD right now. I need sleep.
Edit: Nevermind.. It doesn't see it while in Odin mode.. but does see it on and off while booting into recovery.
Edit 2: I found that it was indeed a driver error. Fixed. Now back to backing up my SD card that I accidentally interrupted. I'll report back my ODIN results after I wake up.
my phone is doing the exact same thing
I was able to bring my phone back to life with ODIN restoring a 4.0.2 factory image.
Related
Hi there!
Got kind of a strange Problem with my Nexus:
I had big troubles last weak after i fully the battery by accident. I was stuck in a bootloop, so first thing i tried was a factory reset and restoring a nandroid backup. Didn't work, it randomly rebooted while restoring the backup. Same with a aokp rom i still had on my sd card.
Fastboot flashing didn't work either, i always got a "too many links" error.
It wasn't the usb cable, because i tried three, and it wasn't the pc, the drivers or the usb ports, cause i tried 3 different pcs, too.
At first i thought maybe the internal sd was corrupted somehow, but that didnt really make sense.
As a last resort i switched too odin, always hated it, didn't use it since the galaxy s first came out.
Guess what: It didn't work! It just got stuck at "sending data" or something like that while trying to flash a stock 4.2 rom.
What finally did the trick was:
After i ****ed up the whole device with odin and got the "phone exclamation mark pc" screen after turning it on, i tried flashing the attached zip with odin to get at least my recovery back, which worked after some tries.
After that i flash the slim rom via adb sideload and my nexus came to life again. Which didn't make sense at all, but i was happy.
UNTIL NOW:
I wanted to re calibrate my battery so i fully discharged the phone. And guess what: Same **** all over again.
I just can't get my head around it. It doesn't make sense at all, for me at least. It has to be some kind of hardware failure, but what?
Is there something like the bios battery on pc motherboards which is broken on my device? But flash storage doesn't need any current to save data, so....
I'm no Linux programmer but i'm no rookie either, so i don't think i commited any severe mistakes while trying to fix it. (well, despite odin being a failure in itself )
So, any ideas? I searched the forums a bit, but i didn't find anything similar, just the usual bootloop stuff.
You should never fully deplete a battery. Batteries have their own OS, which allows them to recalibrate themselves. When the system asks you for juice, give it to him.
a maguro wrote this.
I didn't do a full discharged, sorry for being unclear. I just used it until it turned off (5%), nothing more.
Edit:
Ok, i guess it is a real brick now. When i try flashing a rom via sideload, it gets stuck at "formatting data" and reboots after a while. flashing with odin doesn't work either.
Guess i got a bit closer to the core of the problem.
it seems like i have no /data partition on the sd card.
Rom flashing always gets stuck at formatting data. when i try to adb push a file to /data or data/media, it says "no such file or directory found".
When i try to unmount /data in cwm, nothing happens.
Any ideas?
Try adb pushing to /mnt/sdcard/ or /sdcard/ directly.. I remember an issue when i could not use adb with the data folder at all, unless i ran insecure adb from the android os.
or even /mnt/shell/emulated/0/
bodh said:
Try adb pushing to /mnt/sdcard/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, that worked. But still, i can't access the sd card via cwm, so that didn't really help. it says "couldnt open directory"
flashing with sideload still crashes at "Format and Mount System, Mount Data"
Why doesn't it create /system and /data?
Edit:
CWM Log says:
Can't partition non-vfat: datamedia
Why aren't you using fastboot?
bodh said:
Why aren't you using fastboot?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
HansBaer2000 said:
Fastboot flashing didn't work either, i always got a "too many links" error.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That happens when i try to flash system
Seems that just my /data/media folder is gone, at least thats what TWRP tells me
Any way to bring it back? Or are my partitions corrupted?
I guess I missed that. Too bad there's not a manual of common fast boot errors and their causes. I read that the 'too many links error' often relates to bad drivers. I'd try universal naked drivers. Uninstall your current ones, then install. Make sure you're running fast boot as admin. Fast boot erase cache and fast boot format..also, perhaps your data/media got nested by subsequent flashes?
I don't think a low battery should cause any problems to the storage, however if you really have problems with partitions, perhaps try to flash odin with PIT file? (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1405327)
bodh said:
I guess I missed that. Too bad there's not a manual of common fast boot errors and their causes. I read that the 'too many links error' often relates to bad drivers. I'd try universal naked drivers. Uninstall your current ones, then install. Make sure you're running fast boot as admin. Fast boot erase cache and fast boot format..also, perhaps your data/media got nested by subsequent flashes?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have tried both, the Samsung usb and the naked drivers before. Maybe i'll try a 4th PC and a 4th cable.
My Gnexi said:
I don't think a low battery should cause any problems to the storage, however if you really have problems with partitions, perhaps try to flash odin with PIT file? (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1405327)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tried that multiple times. Flashing a PIT file only works, it repartitions just fine. Flashing a stock rom however always stops at "write NAND"
Are you using USB 2 ports? Try USB 3?
a maguro wrote this.
i would try, but my usb 3 doesn't recognize the phone in fastboot or adb mode, can't say why
Hoping someone here can give me some help. Sometime last night my phone crashed - had an error message on the screen asking me if i wanted to restart - basically the android version of a blue screen.
I rebooted and when it started up it tried to activate but failed. Tried it a few times, never activated. I called sprint and they had me type in 2 different codes:
##72786# which didn't get an error but didn't help anything
They had me try a 2nd 6 digit number, which I'm not sure if it's unique to my phone or not so I wont post it here but that did nothing at all - typed in the ##______# and nothing happened. They claimed it was because the phone is rooted, but the phone is ONLY rooted. I haven't installed a new OS it's the stock rom as far as i can tell.
Anyone have any ideas whats going wrong here or how to fix it?
thanks
edit: and apparently now I wiped the OS from the phone since it wont go past the LG logo. Is there some way for me to either copy a rom onto the phone from TWRP or copy a backup onto the phone? I've got a couple of TWRP backups saved on my pc, but since the phone wont start up I don't have any way of copying them onto the phone - damn non-user removable sd cards.
merkk said:
Hoping someone here can give me some help. Sometime last night my phone crashed - had an error message on the screen asking me if i wanted to restart - basically the android version of a blue screen.
I rebooted and when it started up it tried to activate but failed. Tried it a few times, never activated. I called sprint and they had me type in 2 different codes:
##72786# which didn't get an error but didn't help anything
They had me try a 2nd 6 digit number, which I'm not sure if it's unique to my phone or not so I wont post it here but that did nothing at all - typed in the ##______# and nothing happened. They claimed it was because the phone is rooted, but the phone is ONLY rooted. I haven't installed a new OS it's the stock rom as far as i can tell.
Anyone have any ideas whats going wrong here or how to fix it?
thanks
edit: and apparently now I wiped the OS from the phone since it wont go past the LG logo. Is there some way for me to either copy a rom onto the phone from TWRP or copy a backup onto the phone? I've got a couple of TWRP backups saved on my pc, but since the phone wont start up I don't have any way of copying them onto the phone - damn non-user removable sd cards.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you boot to recovery?
If you can, then flash a newer TWRP build, they have MTP support, you can mount it while connected to your PC, copy a ROM zip over (there is a stock on in these threads somewhere), flash it from recovery, wipe everything first. Then you should be able to boot into a working device.
Yes I can boot into twrp, but I'm not sure how to copy files that way. I tried using adb but it couldnt find the phone. Can you give me some tips on how to copy a new ROM or twrp backup to the phone?
Thanks
merkk said:
Yes I can boot into twrp, but I'm not sure how to copy files that way. I tried using adb but it couldnt find the phone. Can you give me some tips on how to copy a new ROM or twrp backup to the phone?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, first thing is to flash this.
http://cubegamemc.de/kevinjoa/lollipop/recovery-geehrc/twrp/
You can flash it through fastboot.
follow these steps:
1. Download and place the file on your PC.
2. Reboot your device into Fastboot Mode. To do that, simply hold down the Volume DOWN+Power buttons together.
3. Once inside the Fastboot mode, connect your device to your PC via USB cable.
4. Launch a Command Prompt Window in the folder you saved the recovery image to. You can do that by holding down the Shift button on your keyboard and right-click on any blank area on the screen, then select Open command window here.
4. Enter the following command into the Command Prompt Window. You need to replace recoveryfilename.img with the actual name of the Recovery Image you downloaded.
Code:
fastboot flash recovery recoveryfilename.img
5. Once it is done, reboot your device
Code:
adb reboot recovery
should do it. If not, just hold down the power button, and get back to recovery.
at that point you should have the newest recovery. This recovery has MTP enabled so you can transfer files just like you can if you had a running device.
Once it shows up on you PC you can transfer a ROM zip or a backup to the internal SD. From there you I am sure you know how to flash a zip or restore a backup. It is the same as an older version. MTP should be under the "MOUNT" section of TWRP. I don't remember because I have a different device now.
Good luck!
If this doesn't work, follow the thread here: You would need the super big full bin file if you do though because you do not have a working ROM or zip currently on your internal SD card and this contains a very old recovery, but it does work.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2230106
edit: I altered the directions from the source here for the att version. Don't worry, I changed them to suit your current need.
http://theunlockr.com/2013/03/26/how-to-install-twrp-recovery-on-the-lg-optimus-g-att/
My phone seems to behave a little differently than what you describe. Holding down the volume down and power button just turns it on. Holding vol up and power puts me into a screen with the android bot on it with the option to restart bootloader, go into recovery, or power off. and at the bottom there's some text indicating fastboot mode is on.
I was able to use the fastboot command to load the newer recovery. But for some reason, none of the adb commands work on my phone.
I'm copying a twrp backup to the phone now and i'll restore that. Hopefully that'll fix the issue of the phone not booting and if i am really lucky, fix the issue of the phone not being activated, but I'm not too hopeful about that.
Thanks again for all your help
hey - just wanted to say thank. Got my phone to boot back up again. Unfortunately the backup restore doesnt seem to have fixed my initial problem. Phone is back to saying it needs to be activated. Any ideas about that? It's also showing zero bars - not sure if that's what it's supposed to show when it's not activated.
Thanks again for your help
merkk said:
hey - just wanted to say thank. Got my phone to boot back up again. Unfortunately the backup restore doesnt seem to have fixed my initial problem. Phone is back to saying it needs to be activated. Any ideas about that? It's also showing zero bars - not sure if that's what it's supposed to show when it's not activated.
Thanks again for your help
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
EDIT:: TRY THIS FIRST<
Do a full wipe of the system and data, not internal. GO to recovery, select wipe, then factory reset. Then boot your phone. You will have to setup everything again but it might help. If it does not, you can always restore your backup again.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Interesting that your phone was the opposite for the buttons. Maybe I had it backwards, or maybe my source did. Either way I am glad you have a device that boots now.
Check this...
Go to the about section and see if your imei and other information are blank or have 0's. I am almost certain that there are 0000's.
If that's the case then you lost your EFS some how. and there is a way to recover that as long as you have a backup somewhere. You should have one somewhere if you used freegee to unlock your phone in the beginning. If not, perhaps an earlier backup you had of your device. A lot of the recoveries for this device make a backup of the EFS.
well i just dropped the phone off at a sprint repair store to see if they could do anything with it now that it actually boots. If they can't fix it, I'll try what you suggested. Although i already tried a factory reset and that didn't help.
well you are right about the esn/meid/IMEI - they are all zeros
I did a restore and then used freegee to restore the efs. Will free tell you if there is no backup of the EFS? Because i restored it, it finished pretty much instantly, and then i restarted the phone just be safe. Unfortunately it didn't fix it.
Phone still says searching for service, and now there's a little red x over the bars. Before the bars were blank but there was no red x. Not sure if that makes any difference.
Also, something else weird is going on now. I just tried copying a newer backup to the phone to try and restore the newer one. I don't seem to be able to copy files now. When i drag the folder windows , it says the device has stopped responding. If i try and copy each individual file in the backup folder, it starts to copy, and then just sits there like it froze, or like it's copying so slowly it might as well be frozen. I had to reflash twrp to the newer version and then I'm able to copy files.
Reloaded the efs backup again but still can't activate/have all zeros.
I recently picked up a new-to-me LS970 after an unfortunate encounter with gravity :/
I went to root/unlock the phone and all seemed to go well. I loaded TWRP 2.6.3.0 and proceeded to make a backup of my stock rom/settings/ESN. I then attempted to flash a new ROM and found that the MIUI port wasn't functional for me. I tried to flash CM12 as well but cannot get past the setup wizard.
Unfortunately, TWRP doesn't recognize my backup. If I go to the file manager, I can see the directory and files that compose my backup, but if I go to restore it, I get a blank menu with no restore options.
The ADB sideload option fails to connect (It says 'Starting ADB sideload feature...' forever until I cancel it) and I cannot get far enough into either ROM to enable me to push files over MTP. in CM12, I can get ADB to see my phone (appears when I use 'ADB devices') but if fails to push a file due to permission being denied.
What are my options here? How can I move forward with having a functional phone?
I was able to tinybin my way back to TWRP 2.6.0.0 and that has allowd me to ADB push files. Sideload still will not function. I tried flashing several ROMs but they always fail. I treid reformating my SD card, and that also fails (unable to read partition table). Any guess as to what is going on? MIUI successfully works now, so at least I'm through the worst of it.
LordKyleOfEarth said:
I recently picked up a new-to-me LS970 after an unfortunate encounter with gravity :/
I went to root/unlock the phone and all seemed to go well. I loaded TWRP 2.6.3.0 and proceeded to make a backup of my stock rom/settings/ESN. I then attempted to flash a new ROM and found that the MIUI port wasn't functional for me. I tried to flash CM12 as well but cannot get past the setup wizard.
Unfortunately, TWRP doesn't recognize my backup. If I go to the file manager, I can see the directory and files that compose my backup, but if I go to restore it, I get a blank menu with no restore options.
The ADB sideload option fails to connect (It says 'Starting ADB sideload feature...' forever until I cancel it) and I cannot get far enough into either ROM to enable me to push files over MTP. in CM12, I can get ADB to see my phone (appears when I use 'ADB devices') but if fails to push a file due to permission being denied.
What are my options here? How can I move forward with having a functional phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LordKyleOfEarth said:
I was able to tinybin my way back to TWRP 2.6.0.0 and that has allowd me to ADB push files. Sideload still will not function. I tried flashing several ROMs but they always fail. I treid reformating my SD card, and that also fails (unable to read partition table). Any guess as to what is going on? MIUI successfully works now, so at least I'm through the worst of it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If it is your original TWRP backup (TWRP that Freegee installed) it might not restore, I had that problem a long time ago. Try installing an updated TWRP, that one is really old at this point.
If you have an updated TWRP you can mount MTP from recovery and transfer any files to your internal storage. I suggest starting out with the stock ZVC so you can have a fully working stock device and make sure everything works. From there you can copy zips to your device and flash away.
If you have issues copying a recovery to your device you can always use adb to flash. I believe it is
"fastboot flash recovery (name of recovery.img)" without quotes or parenthesis.
EDIT: On the CM 12 setup thing, @Shelnutt2 just posted in the CM12 thread that the bug is fixed and will be pushed to tonight's nightly.
Here is a newer recovery built by an international dev but this is the one I used when I had the OG.
http://dl.kevinjoa.me/recovery-geehrc/twrp/
Hello. I have a i317 Note 2, running on T-mobile. It is rooted and was running Blisspop 5.x rom. I had set my phone down and noticed it was on the Samsung screen. Figured it was just a random reboot; but it never booted up. I reboot into recovery (TWRP) to find that there is no OS installed. It says my internal storage is 0mb, my external storage is 0mb (I have a 32gb sd card). I cannot mount nor access external storage, or anything internal. I cannot format data. I am able to see my phone while it is in recovery on my computer. But once I put it in download mode, it can no longer be seen. ADB cannot see it in download mode, I cannot fastboot (unless I'm doing it wrong). I used Odin, which can see it in download mode, but it did not fix anything. Also, now the phone says it is unable to format to remove encryption.
Prior to this it had a problem where it would be unable to stat things. Is there any way to fix this? Or am I SOL?
SchusterIX said:
Hello. I have a i317 Note 2, running on T-mobile. It is rooted and was running Blisspop 5.x rom. I had set my phone down and noticed it was on the Samsung screen. Figured it was just a random reboot; but it never booted up. I reboot into recovery (TWRP) to find that there is no OS installed. It says my internal storage is 0mb, my external storage is 0mb (I have a 32gb sd card). I cannot mount nor access external storage, or anything internal. I cannot format data. I am able to see my phone while it is in recovery on my computer. But once I put it in download mode, it can no longer be seen. ADB cannot see it in download mode, I cannot fastboot (unless I'm doing it wrong). I used Odin, which can see it in download mode, but it did not fix anything. Also, now the phone says it is unable to format to remove encryption.
Prior to this it had a problem where it would be unable to stat things. Is there any way to fix this? Or am I SOL?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You used Odin for what? Did you try flashing stock rom? Try using the rescue option in KIES. It has saved me in the past when I had messed up my device.
NickVXD said:
You used Odin for what? Did you try flashing stock rom? Try using the rescue option in KIES. It has saved me in the past when I had messed up my device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry about that, forgot that bit! I used odin to flash the stock rom, and even tried a .pit repartition. Kies does not see the phone. At most, it sees it but will not connect. So there are no rescue options to be had.
I thought I made progress. I was able to do the firmware reset with Keis. The phone got to the blisspop launch screen but just stayed there. I rebooted into TWRP and it still said I had 0mb of internal storage, and still had no OS installed. ADB still didn't see the phone, either. Now the phone will no longer boot to samsung, or to recovery, or TWRP. If I hold the power button the proximity sensor shines for a moment but that's it.
Same problem here, same phone but t0lte that ran many ROMs over 4 trouble-free years . Still at the pre-Kies stage, thus still can access twrp. Tried overwriting twrp with philz or CWM - Odin says PASSED but reality say no dice - twrp is still the recovery. Tried flashing stock - Odin again said PASSED, but still have twrp reporting 0MB.
Spent 1day surfing xda to ensure I have correct files and procedures.
Wonder if there has been any solution found...
When flashing a new recovery, do not check auto reboot. Flash the recovery in Odin. When you see the word reset in the status window, remove the USB cable from the phone, remove the battery, replace the battery, boot into recovery. Hopefully, this method will work.
NO ONE?????
ODIN --> Flash Stock Recovery (AP) with NAND Erase All Option Checked (because it seemed to make sense) + Auto Reboot + F. Time Reset --> Reboots to Stock Recovery (did not work before) --> Reboot into Recovery --> Wipe Data/Cache and Dalvik just to be safe (this crashed it before) --> Reboot. THE END
TL/DR: I am currently stuck on recovery/update mode. Any attempt to wipe data or clear dalvik crashes it. any attempt to access data through TWRP crashes it. Flashing stock rom or custom rom does not help. Somethings wrong with /data? It thinks it has root from the CF Auto Root, but does not really? Something wrong with partitions? Should I wipe the nand with ODIN 3.10? Repartition? ugh ... Please help ...
I have searched the forums and found nothing that describes this issue precisely. I have also tried to apply various suggestions to repair, which, for the most part seems to have made it worse. I am hoping that people still look at this forum.
PC - Windows 7
Initially @4.2.2 ---> Touchwiz debloated stock ROM which I rooted. It worked for a couple years, but the device crashed frequently. I do not recall much about the installation, but believe that I used CWM/TWRP at the time. After installing the ROM, I ran triangle away (out of the box, it had 4.1.2, i recall)
I decided to upgrade to the most recent stock ROM (4.4.2). In order to do so, I used an easy installer I found else where on XDA. (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2773712 ---ODIN One Click exe). The device was not initially recognized, so I reinstalled the official driver package (said that they already existed, but I installed again anyway). Ran 1-click and it appeared to work.
Initially, the device booted (long startup) and seemed to function. It also preserved all data and programs (presumably did not touch the internal memory - 16 GB) and possibly root /data.
I then tried to root through most recent ODIN with CF auto root. This appeared to work and rebooted (again, showing the updating android apps screen before fully booting).
The only thing that i could find that had changed was the wallpaper (showed on lock screen but not on home screen). I could no longer find the image, so tried to go to /data/data to find it with root explorer equivalent. This is where it started to act weird.
NOTE: I did not clear anything (system cache, etc. at any point)<--a lie (see below)
It showed the root folder fine, but when I clicked on /data it took a while and could not access it. It either rebooted itself or I rebooted, but this time it was stuck in a boot logo loop. I entered download mode and flashed TWRP through ODIN. I set it to not reboot automatically so that the bootloader was not overwritten automatically (thus losing recovery). TWRP came up. The computer recognized it as a Media Device after I mounted USB storage. Just in case, I copied all of the important files from the internal SD Card to my computer. I then tried to go to the file explorer to copy the wall paper and it forced a reboot. At this point it was stuck on a logo screen boot loop again. I was able to enter Download mode and reflash TWRP. This allowed me to enter recovery again, however, now it would only boot directly into recovery (or Download mode if I did the button combo). The interesting thing was that it would reboot two or three times before successfully entering TWRP.
I believe I tried to reflash the stock ROM at this point, which might have worked but made no difference.
I was also having a lot of problems getting Windows to properly recognize the device. I had to reinstall the drivers a couple times. I tried Kies after the problems started and it tried to connect by failed. The diagnose connection did not work either. I was not able to get Kies to connect though I tried several times throughout the attempted repair
I downloaded a stock-rooted 4.4.2 ROM from here and tried to flash it. It failed.
I also tried to flash via Heimdall, but initially could not find any stock ROMs for Heimdall for the Galaxy 8. (The driver utility that is included helped to get the phone recognized by Windows sporadically).
I decided to switch over to CWM touch recovery, which I flashed via ODIN (I was having issues with TWRP again and also could not get windows to recognize the device as a media device when I mounted USB storage). This worked after a couple tries and I was able to enter CWM. I attempted to flash the stock ROM but it failed. Either at that point or when I tried to mount data it returned an error that device did not have root. Again, it would only boot into CWM (on its own) or Download mode (with key combo). At some point around here I cleared the cache and dalvik (error) after it returned an error saying insufficient space when trying to flash ROM.
I dissected the .exe from the autoflash used in the beginning (stock unrooted 4.4.2) and used the contents (system.img, cache.img, hidden.img, tz.img, recovery.img and one other I do not remember) in Heimdall to create a Heimdall package. At this point I figured out I did not need to create the package, but just specify the individual files. I flashed. It appeared to complete System.img successfully and then failed. Tried again with the same result.
Now when I rebooted, it would enter download mode with the Key combo, but otherwise it booted instantly to an error screen to the effect that a firmware installation had failed and to use the repair function in Kies to fix. Kies still did not recognize it.
At this point, I figured I should stop. Currently I can get to the download screen or the error screen. The computer recognizes it but intermittently fails to install driver. Zadig.exe sees it as Gadget Serial. Sometimes Windows just sees it as SAMSUNG_Android, in which case drivers fail. Once or twice I got it to recognize it as Samsung USB Composite Device, but Kies would still not work.
That's all i have for now. If more information is needed, let me know and I will update the post when I get home from work tonight (this is from memory).
Thank you
UPDATE: last night I went home and was able to get it back to the point where I could flash TWRP or CWM recovery. If I try to flash Stock Recovery, it fails. A minor problem is that I cannot turn it off - it just turns it self on again, so the battery keeps running down.